SPORTS

FOOTBALL: Manville no match for Keyport in Central Group I quarterfinals

Simeon Pincus

@SimeonPincus

KEYPORT – Days or weeks or months from now, when the Manville High School football team can finally look back at its season, the Mustangs will take pride in an inspired turnaround after a decade of losing where they followed up five straight 1-9 campaigns by earning just the second playoff berth in program history and the first since 2006.

But Saturday, as fifth-seeded Manville trudged off the field at Keyport High School fresh off a painful and embarrassing 41-6 loss in the opening round of the NJSIAA Central Group I Tournament, the big picture was certainly not in focus.

The Mustangs (6-4) were outplayed in every facet by the fourth-seeded Red Raiders (9-1), managing just 126 yards of total offense and one touchdown, surrendering 388 yards, including 271 in the first half, and even botching a pair of kickoff receptions that resulted in Keyport recoveries.

“I don’t think we played our best football at all over the last few weeks,” said Manville coach Pat Gorbatuk, whose team was surprised 48-12 by Roselle Park last week after winning 6-of-7, and trailed 20-0 at halftime Saturday. “It was quite evident last week against Roselle Park and it sure as heck didn’t carry into our playoff game. We came out flat. I thought we kind of woke up a little bit (late) and kind of neutralized the game, but even when we started playing defense a little better, our offense wasn’t catching up as quickly as it needed to. We weren’t prepared like we needed to be prepared, and today was evidence of that.”

Things looked grim for Manville from the start, as the Mustangs went three-and-out on the game’s opening drive, before Keyport and its vicious running attack went to work. Sophomore tailback Devin Wollner got his big day started, going up the middle for a 57-yard touchdown run on the Raiders’ second play from scrimmage and he never let up until he was taken out of the game early in the third quarter with his team up by four touchdowns.

Wollner finished with 209 yards on 26 attempts, including 21-for-175 and three touchdowns in the first half. Greg Robinson chipped in 97 yards on 11 attempts, while Shykim Treadwell finished things out in relief of Wollner, going for 44 yards and three touchdowns, all in the second half.

“We were just running the ball down their throats every time,” Wollner said. “My line’s really good at making holes, I thank them for that, and I just hit every one that they gave me.”

Manville finally got on the board in the third quarter as Jameer Campbell capped a 10-play, 63-yard drive with an eight-yard touchdown run, but Keyport added scores on its next two possessions, sandwiched by a muffed kickoff recovery at the Manville 10-yard line, to trigger the running clock, denying Manville the first playoff victory in program history.

“Ultimately, you lose your last two games and it’s not the kind of finish you’re looking for,” said Gorbatuk, whose program logged its first winning season since 2006. “Am I proud of everything we did up to that point? Absolutely. But now we have to take it to a new level and finish. We lose four seniors (to graduation). I think the kids have to understand that as hard as we worked last (offseason), that means nothing. We have to work twice as hard, if not more, and come back even stronger.”

Simeon Pincus can be reached atSPincus@GannettNJ.com. Follow him on Twitter @SimeonPincus and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SimeonPincusCN